Lemurian Congress

A few years ago I realized that automobiles weren't magically invented with heaters already installed. By coming across random reference...

Many things have prevented me from blogging recently, not least my own laziness and ennui. My computer's hard drive totally died after m...

In January I read an extremely positive review of Elizabeth Bowen's short fiction in a 1930s New Yorker magazine. Unable to find any of ...

I read a glowing review of an early Elizabeth Bowen short story collection in a 1930s New Yorker magazine, so I picked up one of her well-r...

Since I didn't do anything last night except schlump around the house, I am not currently dealing with a hangover or the inevitable post...

You can never go back. Your childhood, your high school days, your moments of great epiphany and discovery...all gone. It's the same wit...

This weekend King Beckett loaned me his copy of " Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer. " And though there's not much in...

Johnniac , Sage , Enigma ... the Computer History Museum is where I want to live.

File this one under "Did you know...WHAT, he DID?" From 1903 to 1943, Dr. Martin Arthur Couney had a very unusual show at Coney Is...

First "Harriet Said," then "According to Queeny," and now "An Awfully Big Adventure." Beryl Bainbridge has a ...

In July I was puzzled by a 1929 advertisement for "motor robes." We decided -- on anecdotal evidence mainly -- that these robes w...

Here's a happy Sunday treat: Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge with Gene Krupa's band performing "Let Me Off Uptown." This...

Recently I've been on a "history of computing" kick." I've always been fascinated by the explosion of possibilities d...

If you're a fan of old time radio you simply MUST pick up the (almost complete) collection of " Command Performance " episodes...

Many people have idols, drag queens especially. There's a lot to be said about the type of idols we choose, but mine is a natural fit: A...

Jon Whitney just told me that people in Massachusetts are driving around with a " Don't blame me, I voted for Muffy " bumper ...

Lawrence Morris Markey joined The New Yorker at the very beginning, and as of 1928 he was still writing his weekly "Reporter at Large...

I listen to a lot of old time radio so I'm bound to hear a lot of weird mid-century novelty songs. Occasionally I get a yen to share a p...

I'm becoming intimate with the weekly advertisers for The New Yorker, particularly the ones that tell stories. It wasn't unusual at ...

From February 5, 1948's episode of "It Pays to Be Ignorant" Lulu McConnell: Before I left home this morning, I rocked my husba...